Dilema
by MBSAVfan1
Summary: Just a version of what Ice Age 4 would've been like if the pirates had been more like a family. If you read/have read my Survival at Sea fanfic, you know where I'm coming from. And it's kinda like a back story to this, I guess. Enjoy!


**Hey guys, in one of my reviews for Survival at Sea, someone (not sure who because they were just signed as 'Guest') said they thought Ice Age 4 would've been better if the pirates were more like a family, and that inspired me to write this. Just a version of how it would've been if they'd been more, you know, like a family. Don't worry, nothings really changed, just a few feelings here and there, and maybe a couple twists in the scenes.**

**Sorry if the dialogue is a little wrong, I'm just going off memory here. Oh, and I went to see the movie for the seventh or eighth time in theaters yesterday. I've lost count. So I've got a pretty good idea of the script here. Sorry if it's wrong or anything. Lemme know what you think.**

I could hear Silas and Captain talking in low tones, and I knew what that meant. Another ship was coming, and we would have the joy of taking its passengers prisoner and asking them to join us/walk the plank. Both were enjoyable to me. As I stared at the water, my adopted mother came up to me. "Excited Sheila?" she had that troublesome, slightly maniacal grin on her face I'd known since I was a tiny cub.

"Yeah mom. Nothin' I love more than this."

"Mmm, good." As she turned and hopped away, she murmured "That's my girl." Hr voice was proud as she grabbed one of the skull anchors and tossed it overboard, and I could hear the crunch as it embedded itself in ice. The capture was taking place. Sure enough, other sounds of collision were heard, and a large slab of ice was pulled up and bumped lightly against our ship, the rats that lived aboard as well chattering and squeaking to each other excitedly

I surveyed the animals critically with a calm, curious expression. There was a male mammoth that was large even for his kind, two sloths, a male and a female, the woman rather old and wrinkled with purple fur, the boy ith yellow green fur. And, the thing that surprised me, the saber toothed tiger. With tan fur, green eyes, and long, pearly fangs not to different from my own.

I was confused and surprised for one reason. Weren't sabers supposed to be carnivores?

Now I may not know much about my kind, but I'd think that, because of us being predators, wouldn't he have eaten the sloths by now? And even if not, why hadn't the mammoth thrown him overboard to drown? We aren't swimmers, and didn't he see him as a threat to his life? Didn't they all eat meat, aside from me? (Hey, it's not _my _fault I was raised on a pirate ship by an all vegetarian family. Plus, fruit's actually pretty good.)

As we all lined the side and observed them, I heard Flynn say "Hey! They look fluffy."

My mom looked quite pleased when she saw the mammoth. "I get the big wooly one." She said to Gupta.

When I appeared and looked down at them, the sloth with the yellow fur said "Wow…" and elbowed the saber and clicking his teeth suggestively. As if!

Squint popped up next to me, twirling his knife before doing a little lunge with it. "Get ready to slice and _dice_, boys." He said, smirking evilly.

"Knock it off, Squint." I pushed him away from the edge with my paw.

"Hey!" he protested, but I ignored him.

"Wait for Captain's orders."

"Ahoy down there!" he was swinging from the vines strung above us. "You know these waters are infested with pirates. Right boys?" although I'd always been a teensy bit bothered by the way that he referred to us as 'boys', I never said anything. It was nothing to make a big deal out of.

"Arrrrrr!" they all responded excitedly, but I kept quiet. Hey, a First Mate's gotta keep her image cool and collected and confident, the three c's I live by.

"Glad we found you before they did." He dropped down to stand between Flynn and my mom. "Captain Gutt, here to help." He held out his hand in a friendly way. In a way, he _did_ want to help. Their lives would be _so_ much better if they joined us. Nothing but doing what we loved all day. We got to travel, see new places every day, and there was constant excitement.

If you weren't cheering someone on in a sword fight or competing in one yourself (I never did, I don't have thumbs. Plus, my claws and fangs are the only weapons I'll ever need), we were always either wrecking some place on land (don't judge. It's fun), or raiding, or stealing, or something else. Either way, it was exciting and always a bit violent, it was amazing. No responsibilities besides having fun and being good with weapons. No limits as to where we could go and what we could do. Who wouldn't want a life like that?

"You know, that's a nice monkey." The old lady said. One of the rats started jumping up and down and making monkey sounds, mocking the captain. Big mistake for a little guy.

Gutt, in annoyance, grabbed him and tossed him into the sea by his tail.

"Look, we don't want any trouble." The mammoth called up. "We just need to get back to the continent."

"The continent?" Gutt scoffed. "That pile of rubble?"

We all laughed at this. Who would want to go back there when they could stay here? "My family's there. So if you could just-"

"Oh, your family? That is _so_ sweet." Gutt said in a sympathetic voice. "I hope you said g'bye. Cuz there's no way back!"

"Yes there is!" Flynn suddenly piped up. Captain Gutt sighed irritably and rolled his eyes. "Don't you remember, captain? You can sail to Switchback Cove and catch a current back from there! Still trop this noggin' is!" he continued cheerily, tapping his head.

He forced a laugh. "Thank you Mr. _Flynn_." When he said his name, he stomped a foot down on his flipped, and I winced inwardly. That had to hurt…

"Ow!" he exclaimed. "Ooh…" he whimpered, realizing his mistake and looking guilty.

"See?!" the mammoth said. "I knew there was a way home!"

"There is no home!" Gutt roared, becoming angry. "There is only here. And _here_, your ship belongs to _me_."

The mammoth's eyes went wide and he glanced nervously at the yellow sloth. "Battle stations!" he yelled.

My mom grinned from where she now stood by the cannons and put her feet up against one, pushing it down with ease, quickly doing the other as well. "Ha!" reaching into her pouch and pulling pout a multitude of weapons, tossed them out and into the hands of our fellow shipmates, twirling her favorite spiral shell sword above her head before lunging out to the side with it at the ready.

"Fly the colors!" Gutt ordered, and Gupta jumped up into the air and onto Flynn's stomach, landing on the mast and scurrying up, biting onto the tip and holding on with his front paws to he was waving in the wind like a flag, his unique markings strongly resembling a skull and crossbones.

"Now surrender your ship." Gutt said. "Or face my fury!"

"Or face your furry what?" the male sloth asked.

"Not furry." He sounded annoyed. "_Fury_! Fire!" and Flynn let go of the catapult, letting a huge ball of ice rain down and imbed itself a foot deep in their icy vessel. They all jumped back.

Squint hopped up on the edge with seemingly only one knife in hand. "Hit the mammoth, win a prize!" he called out, flicking his wrist and revealing the six or seven weapons in his hand. "Ha!"

He threw them all down with deadly accuracy, and as the mammoth turned away to avoid them, they all hit his tusk and lined up, only inches apart. After that, the saber growled and started running down the side, snapping the vines that held the anchors with his teeth.

"Fire the starboard cannons!"

Boris quickly lifted one of the ice cannon balls and let my mom kick it into the slot, making it shoot out at them. She, balanced on her tail, used her hands to leap over gracefully and kick the other into position. No matter how many times I watched her do that, it still amazed me. "I. Love! This! Job!" she yelled while she was doing it.

"Shira, fetch!" Gutt ordered.

"Aye aye, Captain!" I responded, leaping down and landing on my feet. I stepped on the final one when he was about two feet from it. "Oh, you almost made it!" I said in a teasing voice.

"I don't fight girls." He said firmly. I narrowed my eyes and ground my teeth, offended. I stretched back the vine and released, letting it hit him in the face. While he was distracted, I pounced on him, one paw on his head. I laughed slightly. "I can see why." My tone was smug.

The sloth ran away from the edge, screaming. "Belly flop!" Flynn cried gleefully as he leape doff the side and landed on him, bouncing a couple times while the sloth cried put in pain.

"Ouch! Ow! Oof!" Flynn laughed and raised his flipper, waving his knife happily.

"Sid!" the mammoth exclaimed, sounding a mixture of worried _and _annoyed. He started for him, but my mom, accompanied by Boris, caught his tusk on her sword and turned him back towards her.

"Let's rumba, Tiny!" she exclaimed excitedly, cackling at her little joke before twirling her weapon a couple times before pointing it at him again. I still didn't understand some of her habits, like sometimes calling her enemies 'Tiny'. He was much bigger than she was.

"Lights out, big fella'." I heard Gutt say, and the sound of another cannon being fired could be heard. Suddenly, another ball of ice was fired, and this time, landed right on the front of the mammoth's head. He fell sideways, groaning.

My mom, Squint, and the others advanced on him as his eyes slowly closed, pointing their weapons at him. After we got them all up on board, we tied the sloth dubbed 'Sid' to one of the tree trunks, the saber up in the air, upside down on one of the outstretched branches, and the mammoth, or 'Manny', tied to the trunk of that one. We also tied up the old sloth to a tiny post in the ground, barely a third the size of Squint, with the vine connecting to her ankle, letting her just walk around in circles.

While we all waited for him to wake up, we discovered a little stowaway on the head of our ship, a small squirrel-like creature with a fish stuck to his waist, a seashell on his chest, and seaweed on his head he looked like a mermaid. Squint got right to work putting him to use, setting him in front of one of the many other trees and throwing starfish at him, making him dance. We all got a good laugh out of it while we awaited our prisoners awakening.

While we watched him for about an hour, the others (with thumbs) taking turns throwing starfish and sea urchins at him. I could feel the conscious prisoners staring at our slightly cruel ways, but who cared? If they were smart, they'd join us and soon be enjoying the pirate way of life too.

After awhile, I heard the saber say sarcastically "Hey buddy. Welcome to the party." His tone was grim. I turned to see who he was talking to. The mammoth was awake.

**So was this too different from the original? Tell me what you think, like the idea? I thought it would be kinda interesting, and it would be able to show more feeling and make it harder for Shira to leave her crew. And maybe make them a little more sympathetic to her or something. Just thought I'd see how this worked out. Oh, and because this is mainly, about the pirates, should I include the scenes with the herd? I will if you all want, but it's up to you. Please review.**


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